William Stryker (Earth-616)
; Stryker Crusade (founder and leader); (founder and leader) | Relatives = Marcy Stryker (wife, deceased) Jason Stryker (son) | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = formerly Mount Haven | Gender = Male | Height = 6'0" | Weight = 180 lbs | Eyes = Blue | Hair = Grey | UnusualFeatures = Cybernetic right forearm | Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Widowed | Occupation = Reverend, terrorist, mass murderer, former soldier | Education = | Origin = Human | PlaceOfBirth = Phoenix, Arizona | PlaceOfDeath = | Creators = Chris Claremont; Brent Anderson | First = Marvel Graphic Novel #5 | Death = New Mutants Vol 3 #12 | HistoryText = Early Life William Stryker was a sergeant in the army and may have been involved in the Weapon X Program, which resulted in Logan being given his Adamantium skeleton. While Sgt. Stryker was stationed on a nuclear testing facility, his wife, Marcy Stryker, had become pregnant. After his tour, Sgt. Stryker and his wife decided to visit her parents, in Phoenix, Arizona, but a car crash left them in the Nevada Desert. Marcy went into labor and Sgt. Stryker was forced to deliver the baby himself. At birth, the child was physically mutated and Sgt. Stryker, believing it was a monster, stabbed the newborn. When his wife woke from unconsciousness and asked if the baby was okay, Sgt. Stryker hugged her and snapped her neck. Horrified at his actions, Sgt. Stryker noticed that the car was leaking gasoline and placed his family back in the car, sat in the driver's seat, and lit a match. The car exploded, but Sgt. Stryker was thrown from the car and spared from death. After the funeral, Sgt. Stryker turned to the bottle and was ultimately honorably discharged, after his drinking caused him to lash out at his trainees. After hitting rock bottom, months after the accident, Stryker was reading a news article, written by Professor Charles Xavier and realized that his child was a mutant. Styker became convinced that Satan had a plot to corrupt humankind, by taking over their souls while still in the womb, resulting in their mutations. Stryker further concluded that the only reason God would have allowed his son to be a mutant was to direct him to his true calling: ridding the world of mutants. That day, Stryker came to the realization that he was saved from the explosion to do God’s work, in destroying all the monsters that Satan created: the mutants. God Loves, Man Kills Driven by this new-found conviction, Stryker then became a popular but controversial preacher and televangelist. While his followers, including a secret paramilitary group called the Purifiers, committed hate crimes against mutants, Stryker arranged a spy to gather information about the X-Men from FBI agent, Fred Duncan. After having a televised debate with Professor X, Reverend Stryker ordered his Purifiers to kidnap Xavier, Scott Summers, and Ororo Munroe and fake their deaths. Reverend Stryker and Phillip Ramsey placed the mutants in tanks and had them hooked to machines that tortured Scott and Ororo and transferred their pain to Professor X. Professor X was hooked to a machine that attempted to turn him against mutants, with illusions of the X-Men killing him and Reverend Stryker saving him. After Professor X was brainwashed, he fired mental bolts at Scott and Ororo, seemingly killing them, and Stryker had him taken to Madison Square Garden, where he was attached to a machine that would use his brainpower to kill all living mutants. In order to stop this scheme, the X-Men were forced to join forces with their nemesis, Magneto. Protected by his psi-shielded helmet, Magneto was able to distract the Professor enough for the X-Men to destroy the machine. Cyclops entered into a televised debate with Stryker about his actions and Stryker pulled a gun, attempting to kill Ariel. Before he could fire, Styker was shot down by a police officer. God Loves, Man Kills II Stryker had been serving a prison sentence as a result of the events of his previous actions. Lady Deathstrike, Stryker's lover and a villain with ties to the X-Men's Wolverine, made her way onto the airplane where Stryker was being transferred. Once there, she killed his guards and rescued him. Stryker immediately began a crusade against the X-Men, focusing on Wolverine, Cannonball, the X-treme X-Men team, and Shadowcat, towards whom he apparently held a grudge. Stryker sent a group of followers against several of the X-Men, and kidnapped Kitty Pryde. Along the way, Kitty convinced Stryker that mutants were not an abomination, and he seemed to turn over a new leaf. Decimation Stryker returned following M-Day, deeming the sudden massive reduction in number of the mutant population a sign of God, saying "He made the first step and now we have to take the next", basically rallying for genocide on TV. With the help of Icarus, one of the Xavier Institute's students, he caused a bus to explode, killing about 1/4th of the depowered students from the academy. Then he planned the assassination of Wallflower, ordering one of his snipers to shoot her in the head. Next he tried to kill Dust, though X-23 foiled the attempt by dressing in Sooraya's cloths and taking the bullet herself.The deaths of Wallflower and Dust were Stryker's prime objectives, as he had been informed by Nimrod that both girls would be fundamental in the destruction of his army.Finally he attacked the institute with his "purifiers," killing Quill, leaving Onyxx and Cannonball critically wounded, and hurting Bishop, Emma Frost and other students. After Stryker's Purifiers were defeated, he was killed by Elixir. Second Coming Stryker was later resurrected by the Purifiers using Technarch technology and controlled by Bastion. He has re-assumed control of The Purifiers now combined with the Sapien League. When Bastion located Hope Summers and Cable, he dispatches the Reverend and his Purifiers to eliminate them. They are intercepted by a group of X-Men with the help of a "weaponized ritual" weapon, he is able to take Magik out of the fight. He also temporarily neutralizes Nightcrawlers' teleportation. With the X-Men unable to teleport at will, they are surrounded by the Purifiers. Sensing the battle has shifted and no longer in their favor, Wolverine instructs Angel to transform into his Archangel persona. He is able to quickly dispatch of the Purifiers, and kill William Stryker by slicing him in half. | Powers = | Abilities = Skilled soldier and military unit leader. | Strength = Average | Weaknesses = | Equipment = Implant capable of blocking Telepathy. | Transportation = | Weapons = Cybernetic right forearm, taken from a Nimrod Sentinel. | Notes = * William Stryker has appeared in various flashbacks since his first appearance. | Trivia = * It was revealed in , that Stryker's "mutants killed" count is 414 (including Wallflower and Icarus). | Links = * X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills }} Category:Cyborgs Category:Protestant Characters Category:Telepathic Immunity Category:Killed by Elixir Category:Killed by Archangel Category:X-Men Villains Category:Christian Characters Category:Second Coming casualties Category:Stryker Family Category:Humans